Latest Releases
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Presses Multi-Billion Dollar Corporation on Predatory Practices That Are Pricing Out Lake Elmo, Minnesota Residents
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), Chair of the Senate Housing Subcommittee, sent a letter to the Chief Executive Officer of Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELP), an Illinois-based corporation, expressing deep concern over the company’s mistreatment of residents in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. Her letter comes following extensive reporting that residents of Cimarron Park, which is owned by ELP, are being priced out by egregious rent increases, dealing with hostile management and suffering under unfair rules that make selling or moving into a new home more difficult. “This corporation’s well-documented practices of hiking rents and making it more difficult to find other housing options only serves to boost shareholder profits while hanging Minnesotans out to dry,” said Senator Smith. “Residents have been pleading for help for nearly four years, and Equity LifeStyle Properties has failed to show they are even listening to concerns. I want them to meaningfully engage with residents instead of putting their shareholders ahead of hardworking Minnesotans.” Cimarron Park is home to roughly 500 Minnesota families. Their conflict with ELP was first reported by WCCO News in December 2020, when residents decried a rent increase at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that initial report, residents said the situation had only worsened, with the Minnesota Star Tribune reporting declining services and poor management earlier this year. Most recently, residents reported unfair rules that make selling or moving into a new home unnecessarily expensive, trapping households into a cycle of ever-increasing rent, now totaling a 30% increase over the last five years. Equity LifeStyle Properties owns roughly 72,0000 homes and operates
U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Amy Klobuchar Press Postmaster General Louis DeJoy About Minnesota Mail Delays
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar (both D-MN) sent a letter pressing Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for answers on recent mail delays across Minnesota, particularly in the Rochester area. The follow-up comes after both Senators led the entire Minnesota and North Dakota Congressional delegations in a bipartisan letter pressing the Postmaster General to improve service following an Inspector General report. That report found nearly 130,858 missing or delayed pieces of mail at six post offices over the course of only two days. “Letter carriers, especially in rural areas, work extremely hard to make deliveries on time, especially around the holidays. But without support from district management and the Postmaster General in Washington, their jobs go from difficult to nearly impossible,” said Senator Smith. “These new reports only confirm what we’ve already been hearing, which is that USPS leadership is not doing enough to support their workers and deliver mail on time. The Postmaster General needs to take accountability for service issues and do something about it.” “Minnesotans rely on the Postal Service to deliver their prescriptions, Social Security checks, and more, and they need and deserve timely service,” said Senator Klobuchar. “We have heard reports of mail being delayed for four days or more in Rochester. That’s why Sen. Smith and I are calling on Postmaster General Dejoy to address these issues, ensuring that Rochester and the rest of Minnesota’s residents receive reliable service.” You can read the full letter to the Postmaster General here. Senators Smith and Klobuchar requested the audit of the Minnesota-North
Klobuchar, Bennet, Slotkin Introduce Bicameral Legislation to Strengthen Media Literacy Education and Improve Personal Cybersecurity
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) introduced two pieces of bicameral legislation to strengthen media literacy education to teach Americans the skills to identify online misinformation and disinformation. The Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy Act would create a grant program at the Department of Commerce to teach students digital citizenship and media literacy skills to help them think critically about online content. The Veterans Online Information and Cybersecurity Empowerment (VOICE) Act would create a grant program at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to teach veterans digital and media literacy
Klobuchar, Smith Introduce Legislation to Rename Twin Cities Post Offices In Honor of Three Distinguished Minnesotans
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) introduced three pieces of bicameral legislation to rename three post offices in the Twin Cities in honor of distinguished Minnesotans. The legislation proposes renaming the Minneapolis Post Office in honor of former Congressman Martin Sabo; the Richfield Post Office in honor of U.S. Marine Corps veteran Charles Lindberg, who served during World War Two and helped raise the first American flag at Iwo Jima; and the South St. Paul Post Office in honor of Officer Leo Pavlak, a member of the St. Paul Police Department who lost his life
Klobuchar, Smith Announce Federal Funding for Fillmore County Airport Infrastructure Improvements
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced that that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will award $950,000 from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to the Fillmore County Airport. The airport will use the money to design and construct a new general aviation terminal. This project will replace an existing outdated facility that was constructed in 1981. “Investments in our airports serve as a down payment on the long-term economic well-being of our state,” said Klobuchar. “This funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will improve the travel experience at the Fillmore County Airport by supporting the construction
Klobuchar, Smith Announce Federal Funding for Bemidji Regional Airport Infrastructure Improvements
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced that that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will award $95,000 from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to the Bemidji Regional Airport. The airport will use the money to reconfigure and expand the security checkpoint. “Investments in our airports serve as a down payment on the long-term economic well-being of our state,” said Klobuchar. “This funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will improve the travel experience at the Bemidji Regional Airport by expanding the passenger security checkpoint.” “The Bemidji Regional airport is a key transportation hub and economic driver for
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